Who We Are
Rainer Storb, MD
Rainer Storb is a native of Germany where he attended the University of Freiburg Medical School. After his clinical training, he spent three years doing research in Paris on a NATO Science Fellowship, working with Drs. Najean, Bernard and Bessis. In 1965 he traveled to Seattle on a Fulbright Fellowship and began work in the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington with Dr. E. Donnall Thomas. It was here that he participated in the birth of the Seattle marrow transplantation program. He participated in the foundation of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 1975, is Head of its Transplantation Biology Program, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He has worked for the past 40 plus years to develop new concepts in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Casey Ager
Lab Aide
Mail | cager@fhcrc.org
Casey is currently a senior majoring in Biochemistry at the University of Washington. Since becoming a part of the Storb lab in the fall of 2011, he has busied himself as a happy and helpful lab aide, specializing in the maintenance of cleanliness, organization, and general sanity within the lab. In addition to providing extra hands for the technicians, Casey is currently working on the production of a costimulatory blockade molecule to assist in the lab’s ultimate goal of improving host tolerance in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Casey hopes to leverage this experience in graduate school and to one day carry on in the tradition of the lab to develop innovative new treatments for diseases like cancer.
Tiffany Butts
Research Technician II
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.1608
Mail | tmiwongt@fhcrc.org
Tiffany has been a member of the Storb Lab since 2003; first as an undergrad then as a Research Technician. Over the years, her work has focused on Vascularized Composite Allograft Tolerance, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Costimulatory Molecules. In her spare time Tiffany enjoys reading, cooking, and long walks on the beach.
Scott S. Graves, PhD
Staff Scientist
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.5267
Mail | sgraves@fhcrc.org
Scott joined the Storb Laboratory in 2003 as a visiting investigator after over 18 years working in the Seattle biotech industry with focus on development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer. He became the laboratory manager and staff scientist in 2004, directing the program of engineering and development of monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins against costimulatory molecules. In addition, he has conducted several large animal model studies focusing on the understanding of immune tolerance as applied to solid organ transplantation. Additional research interests are aimed at augmenting the graft versus tumor effects and minimizing graft versus host disease associated with hematopoietic cell transplantation. In 2008, Scott obtained positions of Research Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington and Member, Fred Hutchinson/University of Washington Cancer Consortium.
Billanna Hwang (Billie), MPH
Graduate Student
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.1892
Mail | bhwang@fhcrc.org
Billanna (Billie) joined the Storb Lab in 2011 following her work with Dr. Richard Nash. She currently is a graduate student working on dissecting mechanisms associated with rejection and tolerance in bone marrow and solid organ transplantation, more specifically the role of T regulatory cells and how they mediate these responses. Additional research focuses include investigating the pathophysiology of graft versus host disease and the role of memory T cells in transplantation. Outside of the lab, Billie continues to play volleyball competitively and coach.
Carol Loretz
Research Technician
Phone | 206.667.1310
Carol joined the Storb lab in 2002 and originally worked primarily on murine models of solid organ transplantation. She now focuses mainly on the development and testing of costimulatory antibodies and fusion proteins and has assisted on the DMD project. She is also the go-to person for questions about marine life and carnivorous plants.
Maura Parker, PhD
Associate in Clinical Research
Phone | 206.667.1623
Mail | mparker@fhcrc.org
Maura joined the lab in October of 2004 as a post-doctoral fellow following graduate work with Dr. Michael Rudnicki in Ottawa, Canada. Her projects focus on establishing cell transplantation as a viable therapeutic option for muscular dystrophy. Specifically, she uses mixed hematopoietic chimerism as a platform for inducing tolerance, followed by intramuscular transplantation of donor cells. Currently, she is quantitatively comparing engraftment of various cell populations and testing the ability of modulating factors to enhance engraftment. Additional interests include determining the best conditions for ex vivo expansion of donor cells, and ways of modifying the recipient muscle environment to encourage donor cell engraftment.
Emily Rock, MS
Clinical Research Coordinator
Phone | 206.667.2303
Mail | erock@fhcrc.org
Emily Rock received her Masters of Science in Clinical Psychology from IUPUI in Indianapolis. She has been involved in cancer-related research since 2004. While in graduate school she was a National Cancer Institute fellow. She recently moved to Seattle and is enjoying exploring the Pacific Northwest. She began working with the Storb Lab as a Clinical Research Coordinator for Dr. Mohamed Sorror in the Summer of 2012.
Steven Rosinski, MD, PhD
Acting Instructor/Research Associate
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.1460
Mail | srosinsk@fhcrc.org
Steve joined the Storb Laboratory in 2010 at the completion of his clinical training in Hematology/Oncology. His research goal is to translate the knowledge of minor histocompatibility antigens into a therapeutic vaccine to treat or prevent relapse following an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. He won the 2011 ASH fellows award for this project.
Mohamed Sorror, MD, MSc
Assistant Member, Clinical Research Division
Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Washington
Phone | 206.667.2765
Mail | msorror@fhcrc.org
Mohamed Sorror joined the Storb Lab in 2002. His research is focused on studying the impacts of medical comorbidities on outcomes of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for hematologic malignancies in order to improve decision-making and lessen the HCT morbidity and mortality. For more information, visit his web page.
Diane Stone
Research Technician IV
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.6496
Mail | dstone@fhcrc.org
Diane joined the Storb Lab in 2005 after 20 years in Biotechnology. Her primary focus has been the cloning, mammalian expression, purification and characterization of costimulatory fusion proteins and antibodies. She is also known as the ELISA Queen.
Patrice Stroup
Research Technician, Transplantation Biology
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.3490
Mail | pstroup@fhcrc.org
Patrice Stroup has been a research technician in the Storb lab since 2003 after graduating from Western Washington University. She is responsible for DLA-typing the dogs, genotyping for DMD and PK Deficiency, doing the supply ordering for the lab, and making sure we are in compliance with the rules and regulations. In her spare time she has also worked on co-stimulatory antibodies and she is the lab’s party planner.
Bruce Swearingen, MD
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.5101
Mail | swearb@uw.edu; bswearin@fhcrc.org
Bruce trained in general surgery in New York, NY. Following residency, he went to Louisville, KY to complete a two year research and clinical fellowship in hand and microsurgery. His research there consisted of immunomodulation of Vascularized Composite tissue Allograft (VCA) recipients in the rodent model. In July 2012, he joined David Mathes in the Division of Plastic Surgery at UW as a research fellow. His research with David and Rainer Storb encompasses inducing and maintaining tolerance to vascularized composite allograft (VCA) transplantations. Specifically focusing on utilizing stem cell transplantation to create a tolerant state in which the survival of the transplanted graft is no longer dependent on chronic immunosuppression.
Zejing Wang, MD, PhD
Associate in Clinical Research
Phone | 206.667.5558
Mail | zwang@fhcrc.org
Zejing joined the Storb lab in 2003 as a post -doctoral fellow. From 2004 to 2007, she left temporarily to pursue her graduate work with Dr. Stephen Tapscott in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at the University of Washington. Zejing returned to the lab after receiving her Ph.D. in 2007.
Zejing is also a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. Her research interests have been focusing on establishing gene therapy as a therapeutical intervention for muscular dystrophy using Duchenne muscular dystrophy as a model system, from understanding vector immunity, host immune responses to therapeutical vectors, to developing strategies for monitoring and overcoming immune responses for sustained transgene expression. Current research also includes developing gene and cell therapy strategies for treating heart disease in muscular dystrophies.
Stacy Zellmer
Project Manager I
Phone | 206.667.2767
Mail | ezellmer@fhcrc.org
Stacy joined the Storb Lab in 1998 then moved to Comparative Medicine in 2004 – all while sitting in the same chair. She is involved with coordination and data support related to experiments in a large animal model for Researchers in the Transplantation Biology Program as well as any number of different tasks for the Comparative Medicine Department.
Recent Departures
Jeff Chang, MS, MD
Visiting Research Fellow
Clinical Research Division
Phone | 206.667.5101
Mail | jchang1@uw.edu
Jeff is a surgical resident at one of Harvard’s teaching hospitals, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In 2010, he left his lavishing life as a resident to join David Mathes in the Department of Plastic Surgery at UW. He worked with David and Rainer Storb on inducing and maintaining tolerance to vascularized composite allograft (VCA) transplantations. His research focuses on utilizing stem cell transplantation to create a tolerant state in which the survival of the transplanted graft is no longer dependent on chronic immunosuppression. Notable accomplishments are recipient of the UW Schilling Resident Research Award, the AAPS poster award, and the ACS Excellence in Research Award. He returned to Harvard to resume his clinical duties as a resident in June 2012.
